Woman, 19, Gets 40 Years In Slaying Of Bobby Kent

The unique nature of Bobby Kent's murder was again made clear on Friday as a second convicted murderer was sentenced to a prison term far beyond the normal maximum.

Alice Willis, 19, was ordered to prison for 40 years, followed by 40 years of probation. Her second-degree murder conviction carries a cap of 22 years under state sentencing guidelines.

But so-called "aggravating circumstances" allow a judge to exceed the guidelines, and for the second time this week that's what Broward Circuit Judge Charles Greene did.

In this case, Greene found that Willis violated the victim's confidence in her; helped cover up the crime; and contributed to the murder's "excessive brutality."

"The court is going to take away from Miss Willis the best years of her life," Greene said. "Without her planning, without her scheming, Bobby Kent would be alive today."

On Wednesday, Greene sentenced Donald Semenec, 19, to life in prison for second-degree murder. Semenec got more time than Willis because he stabbed Kent with a knife, while Willis only planned the murder.

Kent, 20, was beaten and stabbed to death at a construction site near Weston in July 1993 by seven friends and acquaintances, all suburban young people.

Until just a few weeks before the murder, Willis, of Palm Bay in Brevard County, was Kent's girlfriend. She drove down to Broward with two friends a few days before the murder at the request of a friend, Lisa Connelly.

The two women, according to court testimony, were driven to kill Kent because Willis said he treated her badly - claiming he raped her a day before the murder - and Connelly didn't like the way Kent bullied her boyfriend, Martin Puccio.

Willis has had a troubled life. She was raped by two men at knifepoint when she was 13. She was married for three weeks to the father of her daughter, Brandy, in March 1993. Her husband left her on their wedding night, allegedly to be with another woman. She briefly worked as a prostitute in Broward County.

And then came Kent, whom she once told her mother was "marrying material," according to court testimony.

Defense attorneys Michael Dutko and Kenneth Malnik said Willis suffered from "learned helplessness," a form of battered woman syndrome that compels victims of abuse to stay with their tormentors.

The attorneys asked Greene to treat her leniently because of this. Willis' mother, Virginia Slay, took the stand at Friday's hearing.

"Bobby Kent wasn't the only victim," a weepy Slay told the judge. "Alice has been a victim ever since she was 13, over and over again.

"She never hated Bobby Kent, and I know she'd never do anything to hurt anybody. I know she cries for Bobby all the time, I know she cared for him very much, I know the Kent family is mourning for him, but so is Ali."

Willis, according testimony, helped lure Kent to his death by pretending she wanted to rekindle their relationship. Once the killing began, she ran back to her car.

She testified that she never thought the group was really intent on murder.

"If I only would have believed what they were telling me," Willis said. "But I didn't believe them. I cared about Bobby Kent and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt him."

Her mother said her daughter had no choice.

"She only did what any woman would do: She stood there and screamed and screamed and screamed," Slay said. `But nobody would come to help."

Connelly, 20, of Pembroke Pines, will be sentenced on June 5 for second-degree murder. Greene has already granted a motion to go above sentencing guidelines in her case.

Puccio, 22, of Hollywood, awaits sentencing for first-degree murder. A jury recommended the electric chair. Derek Kaufman, 21, of Weston, also is yet to be sentenced for first-degree murder.

Two defendants who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, Derek Dzvirko, 21, and Heather Swallers, 19, received 11 and seven years in prison, respectively.

"Bobby Kent's death is nothing short of the utmost of tragedies," Greene said on Friday. "Tragedy to Bobby Kent, and tragedy to all the innocents touched by a moment of aggression early on the morning of July 15."